


Let's be friends

by JoyBooth



Category: Pitch (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-15 20:23:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13621014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoyBooth/pseuds/JoyBooth
Summary: The break up was just the beginning. How they find their way back to each other, that's where it got interesting.





	1. The break-up

They had been seeing each other for a few months. Things had been great at first. No one could ignore the passion between them. They truly enjoyed just being together, but then the fighting started. 

They fought about what to watch at night. They fought about where to eat. They fought about who had made the right call during a game. He wanted her to settle down. She wanted to go dancing and let off some steam after a big win. It all came to a head over the twin’s birthday present. 

She wanted to get them the newest gaming system, he thought they shouldn’t spend so much time in front of screens. It wasn’t their worst fight. In fact, it wasn’t even really a fight at all. That’s when she realized that she was tired of fighting with him. 

“Why is this so hard?” Ginny asked.

“13 year age difference, high pressure jobs, too much time together…” he began to rattle off all the reasons he had ever thought of. 

“That was quick.” It felt like he was ready to give up. Maybe he had known all along they could never work. 

“I just mean… do you ever miss when we were just friends.”

“Yeah, I do…” she sighed.

“I want you to be happy, Baker.”

“I want you to be happy.”

“Then…”

“Are we…?” she couldn’t bring herself to finish the question. 

“No, I love you,” he insisted.

“I love you, too.”

“What if it’s not enough?” 

She bit her lip to keep herself from crying. 

“I miss my friend, Rookie.”

“I really miss my friend, too.”

“Does that mean…?”

“I guess so.” She sighed. 

He fought the urge to reach out for her. He could tell she was trying to keep it together, so he did the easy thing and made a joke. She laughed half-heartedly. After an awkward   
moment, she left without another word and went back to the Omni. 

She thought about calling Evalyn, but it was late and a school night. She needed time to compartmentalize. She needed to build her walls back up. She had keep playing together. She had to make sure no one could tell how much she was hurting, especially not Mike. 

The next morning her alarm beeped at 7 the same as it always did. She thought about blowing off her work out, but she had to keep going. She got dressed and went to the gym. She wasn’t surprised that Mike didn’t show up. 

Mike woke up and rubbed his hands over his face. For a moment he wondered why Ginny hadn’t woken him, but then he remember. He had pushed her away. He thought about texting her, just to see if she was ok, but he needed some distance. They needed to redraw the lines between them. 

He did his workout in his home gym, and waited until the last possible moment to leave for Petco. As he was walking in, he saw her heading down the hall. 

“Morning, Baker.” He tried to sound nonchalant. 

“Morning,” she repeated, avoiding eye contact.

“I was thinking…” “We should talk…” They both started at the same time.

“Why don’t we go to my cubby?” Ginny offered. 

“Probably a good idea,” he agreed. Once they were safely away from prying eyes, he looked her over. She seemed ok. She was a little sweaty from her morning workout, but there were no obvious signs of a hangover. “How are you doing?”

“I’m good.”

“Oh good, I’m good too. All good.”

“Good.”

“What do you want to do about this?”

“Normally I would just avoid seeing someone I just broke up with, but that’s not really an option.”

“Suddenly that whole no players thing is starting to make sense.”

“Yeah,” she laughed humorlessly. 

“So, how should we tell everyone?”

“It’s just the team and Ev.”

“You didn’t tell her yet?”

“No.”

“Oh, ok, well should we just do it?”

“Yeah, I think that would be good.” She was still avoiding eye contact, but he didn’t call her on it. He opened the door and she walked out ahead of him. They could hear the music   
before they even got to the locker room.

“Hey guys…” Ginny started to say, but Livan ran up and wrapped his arm around her.

“You’ll never guess, Mami!” the Cuban laughed. 

“What?”

“My girl’s coming. She made it to Florida this morning.”

Ginny looked at Mike. He shrugged. “That’s amazing, Livan. I’m so happy for you.”

“Will you help me? I want everything to be perfect when she gets here.”

“Of course, after the game, we’ll get everything together.”

“Great, now what were you going to say?”

“Nothing, important,” Ginny sighed. As soon as she could she ducked back into her cubby. It wasn’t her day to pitch, so she could hide until game time. 

Unfortunately, Mike wasn’t as lucky. As soon as Ginny escaped, Blip cornered him. 

“What’s going on with you, man?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really!”

“Really?”

“I can’t… don’t ask me,” Mike sighed. Blip just looked at him. “Ginny and I broke up.”

“What?” 

“I broke up with Ginny.”

“I can’t believe you. I thought this was what you wanted.”

“It was, it just… we couldn’t make it work, but it’s ok. She’s fine, and I’m fine and everything is going to be fine.”

“Until you run of to join the Cubs again, or will is be the Dodgers this time?”

“I’m not going anywhere. We were just going to tell everyone, but she clearly doesn’t want to ruin Li-van’s big day.”

“So, what? You guys will just go back to the way it was before?”

“That’s the plan.”

"You guys are crazier than a sack of wet cats if you think that is going to work.”

They made it through the game. The team actually managed a win against the Rockies. Ginny and Mike avoided each other when it was possible. After the game everyone headed to Duarte’s place to help him get it organized. Sonny and Dusty were surprisingly skilled at interior design. Ginny was on her fourth beer when she realized that while she was still living out of a hotel room, Livan had a nice apartment even though he had been signed way after her. She was sitting in the corner when Livan found her. 

“What’s wrong, Mami?”

“Nothing.”

“I don’t believe that for a minute.”

“Mike and I broke up.”

“What? Really?”

“Really.”

“How are you holdin’ up?”

“Not great,” Ginny groaned, finishing the last of her beer. 

“I’m sorry, but it’s going to be ok.”

Ginny snorted. “Ok? How is it going to be ok? Not only is he my ex, but he is my best friend, and my captain and he is just fine. It’s like he knew. It’s like he saw it coming a mile away. He is fine and I am not fine at all.”

“He just seems like that. Give him time and he’ll be right where you are.”

“That’s the thing, Duarte. I don’t want him to be hurting, but I don’t want to be hurting either. I just want to be where we were before. I want to be friends. I wish we had never went down this road, but now I don’t know if we can come back from this.”

“You will.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do, and in the mean time we need some rum.”  
Several hours later, the apartment looked perfect and Ginny was drunk. It was just Livan, Mike and Ginny left. 

“Want me to call you an Uber, Mami?” Livan asked. 

“I can take her,” Mike volunteered. Livan wanted to question it, but Ginny waved him off. They were in the car before they actually spoke. 

“You didn’t have to drive me,” she mumbled. 

“I know, but what are friends for?” 

“I really don’t know anymore,” she laughed, her voice breaking at the end. 

“Are you okay, Gin?”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because I’m not,” he answered simply.

“You’re not?”

“Of course I’m not.”

“You seemed pretty alright to me,” she snapped bitterly. 

“I’m not okay. I thought we were going to have a future, but then I thought you were okay, so I was trying to hold it together.”

“I am not ok.”

“I am so sorry, honey.”

“I know. Me too.”

“I still love you.”

“Yeah, me too,” she admitted. They pulled up to the Omni and she walked in alone. She was laying in bed when her phone rang. “Hey, did I forget something?”

“No, I was just going to remind you to drink some water.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“And I wanted to let you know that I will be there in the morning for our workout, if you want me to be.”

She thought about it for a minute. If they were going to go back to the way it was, they needed to start with the basics. “That sounds good, Lawson.”

“See you then. Night, Baker.”

“Goodnight.” she got out of bed and got a water from the mini fridge. The next morning when her alarm went off she was thankful for her lack of hangover. She got out of bed and headed to the gym. She had plans with a friend.


	2. Unconditionally

The next morning he is was in the gym when she got there with her favorite Gatorade. They went through their routine. They announced to the team that they had broken up. The guys had questions, but it was quickly sorted out. They weren’t together. They were still friends. Everyone should go along as they always had. 

It worked. They were a little quieter than normal. They skipped nights out the team the first few weeks, but before long things went back to normal. They were friends first, and neither was willing to give that up. 

They had a good season. The team was actually in the running for the pennant for the first time in 20 years. Then they had a week off. It was a break between the regular season and the playoffs. She was sitting in her new apartment watching dateline when her phone rang. 

“Hey, I thought you were setting up for the boy's first Middle school dance,” Ginny said as soon as she answered the phone. 

“I was, but a bunch of the chaperones no showed,” came Evalyn’s panicked reply. “How soon can you be at the school?”

“Are you serious?”

“Girl, please, they have been looking forward to this for weeks and if we don’t have the chaperones, we’ll have to cancel.”

“I’ll be there in a half hour,” the pitcher sighed. Thankfully she had showered after her late workout, so she went to the closet, pulled out a dress Ev had made her buy when she and Mike were still dating, and went to the bathroom to get ready. 

When she got to the school she headed for the gym. Evalyn had been talking about the dance almost as much as the boys, so she knew where to go. Twinkle lights and a paper banner hung over the door. 

“You got roped into this too, Baker?”

She turned and saw Mike in her favorite blue button down and slacks. “It looks that way, Lawson.” 

“A night to remember,” he laughed, reading the banner. “Is it just me or are these things always way too cheesy?”

Ginny shrugged, “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been to one.”

He frowned. “Never? Like not prom or winter formal or homecoming or anything?”

“Nope, baseball came first.”

“Well, you didn’t miss much,” he mumbled awkwardly. 

“There you two are!” Ev called shuffling toward them. “Kids are going to start showing up any time now. Mike you are at the refreshment table, keep the chip bowls full, and Ginny, you’re in charge of monitoring the dance floor.”

“For what?” Ginny asked.

“For anything middle schoolers shouldn’t be doing,” Evalyn snapped. “Now get going.”

For a while Mike stayed at his post. He chatted with the kids who recognized him. He kept the chip bowls full and even restocked the punch when it ran low. Every once in a while, he would look across the room to where Ginny stood at the edge of the dance floor. She danced with Gabe and Marcus each once, but for the most part she just stood there swaying and watching the kids. 

He was mopping up a spill when Evalyn came over. “It’s almost time for the last dance,” she said. 

“So, you want me to start cleaning up?”

“No, I just thought you should know, in case there was something you wanted to do.” She looked pointedly over at Ginny.

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”

“Maybe it isn’t, but it might be your only chance.” Without waiting for him to answer she walked off again. The opening notes of Katy Perry’s unconditional came floating across the room. Before he had a chance to over think it, he was walking toward her. 

“May I have this dance?”

“I don’t…”

“Ginny,” he said her name for the first time since the breakup. It was all she needed to hear. The world around them disappeared as she folded herself into his arms. Her heart was pounding in her chest as the words echoed in her ears. She wanted the moment to last forever. His arms around her made her feel like coming back home. 

The song ended, and the moment was broken. The DJ said some closing words, but neither of them heard a thing. They were too busy looking into each other’s eyes. He pulled away first. 

“Thanks, Baker,” he said. She blinked hard and looked away. 

“Yeah, well, I’m glad you didn’t break a hip or anything.”

He forced a laugh and they started the process of folding chairs and sweeping up.


	3. The Pennant

It was game seven against the Reds for the pennant. Ginny was pitching, Livan was catching, and Mike was at first base. Neither Mike nor Ginny were happy when Skip announced that Livan would be her catcher for the game. He still went through the hitters with her before the game. Livan was getting better, but she trusted Mike more. 

The game was a hard fight after a long series. Still they were close. One more out and they would win. Votto stepped up to the plate. Ginny’s eyes shot to Mike. He gave her an almost imperceptible nod. They had planned for this. He knew she could do it. She threw the curve and it cracked off the bat. 

Time seemed to stop as the ball arced through the air. She saw Mike running for it. He punched his glove once and the ball dropped right into it. 

“The Padre’s are going to the World Series!” echoed through the speakers. The team ran for their captain. The crowd erupted around her. She stood on her mound. A slow turn told her that it was real. She had done it. He had done it. She walked over to join the mosh pit of celebrating Padre’s. 

It took a second for her to find him in the center of the fray. He pulled her right into his arms though. 

“I knew you could do it,” he whispered into her ear. 

“We did it!” she yelled back. 

A week later they lost the ring to the Rangers. It wasn’t any one player’s fault. It just wasn’t their year. Still, the talking heads started critiquing her again. Everyone was speculating if she had made the difference. If she had lost it for them.

It was ridiculous of course. No one on the team blamed her, but she still took it hard. She went on a long vacation to clear her head. While she was learning to surf in Maui, she met Matt. He was nice. He took her hiking, and out for ice cream and she felt like a regular girl again. 

She still talked to Mike now and then, but they had turned a corner. He started dating a dog training named Molly. She was happy for him, and he was happy for her. 

When they met up again at spring training everything was almost like it was in the beginning. They laughed and joked. Matt came out to watch a few games. Mike was polite. When Molly came to visit, she and Ginny went golfing together. 

If she still woke up in the middle of the night thinking about him, no one was the wiser.

If Mike adopted a Dachshund because Ginny had once mentioned it was her favorite kind of dog, she assumed it was a coincidence, even after he named it Rookie.


	4. Death comes to Petco

She was running late. Amelia had scheduled an interview with a potential endorsement deal. She had missed her work out, but it wasn’t her day to pitch. All she had to do was get dressed for the game, but when she opened the door she saw Mike sitting in her chair with his head in his hands.

“Lawson?”

“Shit, sorry, Gin. I needed a minute. I guess I just lost track of time.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked nervously, as she shut the door. It was clear he had been crying, but he shook it off and tried to stand.

“It’s nothing, really.”

“Did you and Molly break up?”

“What? No, I mean yeah we did, but that’s not…”

“What then?”

“I just found out my dad died.” His head dropped down again.

“Your dad? I thought…”

“He died days ago. I just got a call from his son, I mean my half-brother, I guess. He was going through some stuff and found out about me. He thought I might want to go to the funeral.”

“And you’ve just been sitting here? All alone?”

“It’s fine. I’m fine…”

“You’re not…” she hesitated, wanting to be there for him, but not sure how. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” She leaned down to hug him, but instead he pulled her into his lap and buried his face in her neck.

“I thought we had time,” he mumbled brokenly.

“I know.”

“I thought we would figure it out some day. What am I going to do?” he kept talking, but she didn’t answer. She knew that he needed to talk, so she listened and rubbed his back, until someone came to knock on her door.

“Game time!” Buck yelled.

“Be there in a minute,” she called back. “I can talk to Skip. You don’t have to play today.”

“No, it’s fine. I need to keep moving. He wasn’t a part of my life. I don’t even know why I’m so upset.”

“Because he was your dad, and you didn’t get to say goodbye.”

“Thanks for being here for me,” he sighed, hugging her one last time.

“Always,” she promised.

The funeral was the next day. She sat with him in the back row. He knew he would be recognized, but tired to stay out of the spot light. He stared at the people talking. He thought about how his life could have been different. What if he had lived with his dad all along? What if he had grown up with a brother? What if he had knocked on the door one of those days he sat out his father's house? 

Ginny squeezed his hand and he squeezed back. He was thankful that she was there even if they weren't together. She was his best friend, and when he needed her, she was there. It was a first for him. 

He didn't cry at all. He wanted to. He felt like he should, but he couldn't. Maybe that was what Rachel had been getting at. Maybe he just couldn't feel things the way normal people did. 

After the service, he met John Jr. John was polite and asked to meet the following week for lunch. Mike didn't really see the point, but he agreed. The man had just lost his father after all. He avoided John's wife, though when she made eye contact across the room he got the feeling she knew exactly who he was. 

"How are you doing?" Ginny asked when they got back in the car. 

"Fine," he shrugged. 

"Really?" she didn't believe him for a second. 

"What do you want me to say, Baker? He wasn't really my dad, he was a just the guy who knocked up my mom. I didn't know him and he didn't want to know me."

"I noticed you didn't cry today?"

"Maybe I didn't care. Maybe I don't really care about anyone but myself."

"So you were cutting onions in my cubby the other day?"

Mike just groaned. "I don't know, Baker. Maybe I'm emotionally constipated and can't express myself like a normal human being."

"Maybe," she hummed thoughtfully. "Let's go to your place, I left a pint of half baked there and I've been thinking about it for weeks."

"How do you know I didn't eat it?"

She just looked at him.

"Alright fine, we'll go, but I'm not ordering take out."

"That's fine, I already have a pizza on the way."

They got back to his house, and he went upstairs to change out of his suit. When he came back down the stairs, she was sprawled out on the couch eating a slice of pizza, playing on his laptop, and drinking the last bottle of his favorite beer.

"Did you seriously open the last one?" he asked incredulously. "I'm in mourning."

"You said you didn't care."

"Yeah, well, it is still my beer."

"Fine, we'll share." she passed him the bottle, as he sat down beside her. 

"And the computer?"

"A little thing I figured out after my dad died," she turned the computer so he could see she was on youtube. "I spent so much time bottling up my emotions so I wouldn't get tagged as a typical girl, that when I really felt like crying, I couldn't. Then one night I was sitting in my room feeling pent up and sad and angry and a million other things, and I started watching these coming home videos. You know, the ones where someone is coming home and the dog like freaks or they suprise the kid at graduation or whatever. Anyway, I start just weeping and I watched like an hour of sad videos and cried and then I felt better."

"So, we are going to do an emotional purge together?"

"Yeah," she said as if it were completely normal. "Do you have a perference? Notebook? Up? Rudy?"

"Let's start with Rudy and go from there."

She ended up asleep on his couch. The next day he made her breakfast and they went to the gym, the same as they always did. 

    


	5. 4 Weddings and a random hook-up

“I can’t go to another wedding, Ev.” 

“You should have thought of that before you agreed to be Duarte’s best woman. Now sit still or I am going mess up your makeup.”

“I agreed to be his best woman before I knew that my mom, Robles and Stubbs would also be getting married in the same 3-month period of time.”

“You got this, girl. You are making that suit look good.”

“You think?” Ginny asked nervously. 

“Yes! You look hot. Tonight is the night you meet someone new.”

Ginny groaned. 

“It’s been 4 months since you and Matt called it off. It’s time, sweetie.”

“I just don’t think I want another relationship right now.”

“Alright then, random hook up?”

“Maybe…”

“Think about it, Ginny. You’ve been really tense lately.”

“I’ll think about it, if you promise to stop hounding me.” 

Evalyn raised her hands in surrender. 

Hours later Ginny was sitting at the bar watching the happy couple on the dance floor.

“Come here often?” Mike asked sitting on the next stool. 

“Come on, old man. You can do better than that,” she laughed. 

“I just wanted to get you to smile, so it suited my purpose.”

Ginny fought a smile, but it broke through. 

“And speaking of suits, Baker, you are working that one.”

“That’s more like it, but I think you should save your charm for Abby.”

“Abby?”

Ginny pointed across the room to a red headed bridesmaid who had been flirting with Mike all day.

“No, I’m good right here.”

He ordered another drink, and they talked about the upcoming series against the Mets. They were still talking when the DJ announced it was time for speeches. 

“I guess that’s me,” Ginny said nervously. 

“Eat’um up, Rookie.”

“I’d like to start by thanking everyone for coming. When I first met Livan, I thought he was a raging narcissist.” She paused and everyone laughed. “I came to realize early on, that the only person he loved more than himself and was and still is Elena. I was there when he panicked about what color towels she would like, and when he needed help picking out a birthday present and when he was planning to propose and need someone to keep her busy while he lit over a thousand candles and then to clean up when he set of the sprinklers with those thousand candles. One thing I know for sure is that Livan would move heaven and earth to make you happy, Elena. When you find someone like that, you should never let them go.” She ended with her gaze on Mike. She hadn’t meant to, but he was looking right back. 

“That was some speech, Baker,” he commented when she got back to the bar. 

“Yeah, well, I learn from the best of them I guess.”

“You want to get out of here?” 

“I don’t know if Livan would forgive me if I bailed on him.”

“You did the speech, your work here is done.”

She debated with herself for a minute. When Ev said random hook up, this probably wasn’t what she had in mind, but she knew Mike. She knew he could turn her tense body into a puddle of relaxed Ginny and if she was honest with herself, he was exactly what she wanted. 

“Alright, Old man, show me what you got.”


	6. Traded

They didn’t talk about it the next morning. They got dressed, went to the gym and then had breakfast together the same as they did most mornings. So, began a trend of random, unspoken hook ups. He would show up at her apartment, she would come by his house. They never talked about what it meant, both were too afraid the other wasn’t in it for the same reasons. 

For months no one was the wiser, except Evalyn and Blip. Ginny told Evalyn, Mike told Blip and Blip and Evalyn tried to convince their friends to go for it for real. 

Then Rachel turned up like a bad penny. The Padres were on track for another great season. People were speculating that they could go all the way, but the trade deadline was looming, and Rachel was chasing a story. 

She cornered Ginny in the halls of Petco. “Any truth to the rumors that front of the house is shopping you to the Braves?”

“I won’t know until Skip tells me. I don’t have a no trade contract.”

“But is that something you’re looking for? This is the longest you’ve ever played for any team.”

“I go where they let me play. That’s the game.”

“He won’t stay with you, you know that, right?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ginny mumbled, suddenly caught off guard. 

“I know about you and Mike. About how you were together, and then not and now you are just hanging around hoping he will come back. A little sad, don’t you think?”

“No sadder than the woman who cheated on him 5 years ago, still trying to get back into his life,” Ginny snapped. 

“He wants me. He has always wanted me, and now that he’s announced this is his last season, we are going to work things out.”

“You’re delusional.”

“You’ll see,” Rachel laughed, as she walked away. 

Ginny ignored her though. She knew Mike didn’t love Rachel anymore. They had talked about it when they were first dating. She went to her cubby and got ready for the game. They beat the Orioles 5-2.

She had to do some press after because of all the trade rumors. She was headed to find Mike when she came around the corner and saw him kissing Rachel. Without making a sound, she backed away. Going to her cubby she changed out and headed home. Mike called at 10, but she let it ring. She didn’t want to hear that he was back with his ex, or worse, hear him lie about it. 

The next day she was cornered again, this time by Oscar. 

“Are you happy here, Ginny?”

“What?”

“I’m just wondering if maybe you are ready for a change of pace. I know you grew up on the east coast, maybe somewhere closer to home would be nice.”

“You want to trade me to the Braves?” she asked, cutting right to the chase. 

“We’re looking at that.”

“Fine, just let me know when the deal goes through.” 

She was sitting in her cubby, NOT avoiding Mike when someone knocked. “Busy!”

“Too busy for me?” Evalyn asked. 

Ginny pulled open the door. 

“Oh, honey, what’s wrong?” Ev asked closer the door behind herself. 

“I told Oscar to trade me.”

“Why?”

“I talked to Rachel yesterday…”

“That bitter hag needs to leave you alone.”

“And then I saw her and Mike kissing.”

“Maybe there is more to it, Gin. You know Mike would never do that to you.”

“I know what I saw, and we never really got back together. Maybe this was just sex to him.”

“It wasn’t. He told Blip he still loves you.”

“But it’s not enough, it never was.”

“Ginny, don’t give up on him, not to mention your whole life is here.”

“You know how rare it is for us to have been here together this long, Ev. What’s done is done. I’ll visit in the off season, but this is my last game as a Padre and I’m not even pitching.”

“Are you going to tell them?” 

“No, we’ve all been through this before. They know how it goes.”

“You should tell them. At least give them a chance to say goodbye."

"Maybe," Ginny sighed, "after the game.” 

Mike had the best game he’d had in a while. Ginny wondered if it was because he knew Rachel was watching in the stands. They didn’t have time to talk before the game, and she successfully avoided him in the dugout. After the game she changed and went to tell the guy, but Mike was already gone. 

The rest of the team hugged her and wished her the best of luck, unless she was playing against them. She laughed and hugged everyone and then walked through Petco remembering all the time she had spent there and waiting for Oscar to call with the trade details. 

When she finally got home he was leaning against her front door holding a bouquet of Skittles in every possible flavor. 

“What’s this for?” 

“Something happened yesterday and…” 

She cut him off. “I know. I talked to Rachel before she found you, and if you’re happy then I’m happy.”

“What?”

“I know you and Rachel are back together. I saw you guys kissing last night, and I’m happy for you. You don’t have to apologize, it’s not like we were dating or anything. I didn’t…”

“What in the fuck are you talking about Ginny? Rachel and I are not and will never be back together. She kissed me last night, but I told her no because I love you and I want to be with you, in whatever way you’ll have me.”

Ginny laughed. She blinked and then looked at him again trying to see if he was lying, but he wasn’t. She took two steps back and started laughing hard. 

“Ginny?”

“You… you and me…” she couldn’t stop laughing. “I… we…”

“Ginny, are you ok?” he set the bouquet down and moved toward her, but again she backed away, hitting the opposite wall and sliding down, still racked with maniacal laughter. “It’s getting scary now, Ginny. I need you to say something."

“I’m…” she gasped and tried to collect herself, but then she looked at him and lost it again. “I’m… being… traded…”

He groaned and sat on the floor beside her. “You have got to be fucking kidding me…” and then he started laughing too. There was nothing else they could do. There was a pounding on the wall, and they remembered they were still in the hall outside her apartment. 

“Want to come in eat some skittles, drink tequila and make bad decisions?” she asked.

“Why not?” he laughed. They were laying in bed hours later tossing skittles at each other when her phone buzzed on the night stand. She looked at it and started laughing.

“Please, don’t start that again, honey,” he begged. She turned the phone to him. 

Oscar A: Trade fell through. 

Mike started laughing then too. “Does this mean?”

“It means I love you and I like you and I don’t ever want to do this again.”

“This?”

“Yeah, this. I don’t want to wonder if this is it, so…” she paused taking his hand and looking into his eyes. “Marry me, Mike.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes,” she answered simply.

“How about tomorrow?”

“I think there’s a 3 day waiting period.”

“Ok, how about Monday, after the game.”

“Sounds perfect.” 

And it was.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't hate me. I keep thinking about timing and how the timing would work between them or not work as the case may be.


End file.
